Social welfare aid applicants don’t need support from elected reps: Yeoh

25 Mar 2019 / 20:44 H.

Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Hannah Yeoh. — Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR: Those applying for Social Welfare Department aid no longer need to get the signature of elected representatives, said Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Hannah Yeoh.

She said the move came about following the laments and complaints from applicants, who said that the process of obtaining the support complicated their aid request.

“Now, applicants need not have to look for their Parliament or State Legislative Assembly members to support their applications (by signing in the witness column). We received complaints of elected representatives refusing to sign the forms if the applicants were not their ‘supporters’.

“So, such columns have been taken out from the application forms to simplify the process,“ she told reporters at the Parliament lobby today.

She said that the forms had also been reduced from nine pages to just three to facilitate the applicants as well as to cut down on bureaucracy and that the approval period for clear-cut cases had also been reduced to a week compared to two months previously.

She also said the public could apply for aid online via http://spbk.jkm.gov.my by uploading the necessary documents and to check their application status. — Bernama